ISLAMABAD: A special accountability court has issued a ruling acquitting Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and others in the Nooriabad Power Plant case.
The court stated that the investigation found no evidence of personal gain for Chief Minister Shah or the others involved.
It was noted that there was no record indicating that the power project incurred excessive costs. The Nooriabad Power Company is the first project under public-private partnership in Sindh.
The court further noted that the Nooriabad Power Plant has been supplying electricity according to its design.
As per the report, the Nooriabad Power Plant has been a profitable venture since 2019, contributing to the national treasury and paying taxes each year.
It is worth mentioning that the accountability court in Islamabad had previously acquitted Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and all other accused in the Nooriabad Power Project reference.
According to Express News, the court accepted the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau’s request to withdraw the reference, leading to today’s ruling.
The reference accused Murad Ali Shah of misusing his authority and breaching regulations by disbursing funds for the Nooriabad Power Plant, alleging that billions of rupees were misappropriated in both the Nooriabad Power Company and the Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company projects.
The Nooriabad Power Project was initially proposed by the Sindh government in 2012 but faced delays due to bureaucratic obstacles and regulatory challenges. I
It was ultimately launched in August 2014 under a public-private partnership, with a total investment of Rs13 billion. The Sindh government held a 49% stake, while a private company owned the remaining 51%.
A 95-kilometer, 132-kV double-circuit transmission line was built from Nooriabad to Karachi for Rs1.95 billion.
NAB alleged that Murad Ali Shah, who was then an adviser to the Sindh chief minister on finance and energy, caused a $16 million loss to the national treasury during this process. –Agencies
